Urban historian Ben Schrader has been vocal in his support for Wellington’s Gordon Wilson Flats. His research into the social history of the building supported the Architectural Centre’s appeal against removing the heritage status of the Gordon Wilson Flats from the Wellington District Plan, which would have facilitated the building’s demolition. His work has shown…
Building Legacies?
Some thoughts on the recent exhibition held at Wellington Museum, Immersive Legacies: 320 The Terrace, by Wellington heritage professional Cherie Jacobson. After visiting 320 The Terrace, Wellington, I felt a bit unwell. Not because of its very sorry state, which is enough to make anyone who appreciates its architectural and historical value feel quite ill,…
End of Erskine’s Main Building
Well the scaffold is up, and the main college building is coming down. For some time we have been tracking the attempts by a number of heritage advocates to save the Erskine College buildings in Island Bay, Wellington. Our last update in June 2017 was here. At the time of our last update, a mediation was…
Unreinforced Masonry Buildings
Update 28 Sept 2018: The below was written on 26 Sept 2018, but in the following two days, all of the buildings discussed below have been removed from the Wellington Council’s list of Unreinforced Masonry (URM) buildings except one – the Newtown Hotel building discussed below. 26 Sept 2018: A major deadline approaches in Wellington, and…
New Zealand’s First Female Architects
My latest project is the study of New Zealand’s first female architects, which I have been working on for about 18 months now. Our first registered female architect registered as an architect in 1914, over a century ago. Her name was Lucy Greenish (1888 – 1976), as pictured in the main image. I have uncovered…
The ‘Heritage Aura’ Effect
Today we have a guest post from Auckland Council’s Dr David Bade and Dr Mario Fernandez, who have been looking into the question of whether heritage places have an effect on house prices in Auckland. Their research is part of the council’s Auckland Heritage Counts programme, which aims to raise awareness of the economic and social benefits…
A Popular Wee Building
Today we have a guest post from Kate Jordan, a historian currently working at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. She wrote about this building while completing her post-graduate studies in Museum and Heritage Studies at the Victoria University of Wellington. In downtown New Plymouth is a rather small, unassuming building. Its demolition has been raised…
Sorry, I am Not a Bus Stop
As part of the recent much-talked-about changes to the bus system in Wellington, one of the buildings left with an existential crisis is the diminutive Miramar Tram/Bus Stop, in the central island of the Miramar shopping centre on Park Road. I researched the history of this building a number of years ago, when it still…
The Third Landing Site: Wahine 50 years ago
A story I wrote about Kevin Mitchell’s experience of Wahine Day was published on-line by Stuff today, to mark the 50th anniversary of the disaster this week. Tucked into Kevin Mitchell’s copy of a book about the history of the Wellington Free Ambulance Service is a typed report posted to him at his home in Wadestown, written…
Book Launch of ‘A Friend Indeed: The Saving of Old St Paul’s’
I am very proud to say that my first book, A Friend Indeed: The Saving of Old St Paul’s, was launched this week. The writing of it was very kindly funded by the Friends of Old St Paul’s, and the launch was organised by them and by Heritage New Zealand. The book was launched by the Prime…
A Women’s Space
For International Women’s Day, I’m sharing some of the research I completed about this building, the Barrett Street Nurses’ Home in New Plymouth. It tells the story of a space planned, paid for and inhabited by women. It is also a useful lesson for heritage professionals like me about how the smallest and humblest details…
‘Where Will the Queen Stay Now?’: Revingtons, Greymouth
One of the buildings damaged in the storm yesterday was the famous Revingtons Hotel in Greymouth. The mayor, Tony Kokshoorn, apparently has said today ‘I am calling for the demolition of Revingtons Hotel. A large part of the roof has come off it and for health and safety reasons I want the demolition brought forward…
Brutal but Beautiful
The Kaori Teacher’s College campus is a complex designed by the celebrated Wellington architect, William Toomath, between 1963 and 1977, and is considered to be the best ensemble of Brutalist architecture in New Zealand. It isn’t just Toomath’s individual buildings that are significant – there is considerable architectural significance in the coherent community of buildings…
Bay Heritage Consultants Wellington 